Kshama Sawant

Kshama Sawant ( kə-SHUM-ah sah-WUNT; born October 17, 1973) is an American socialist politician and economist who served on the Seattle City Council from 2014 to 2024. She was a member of Socialist Alternative and the first and only member of the party to date to be elected to public office, until part of the party split to found Revolutionary Workers. A former software engineer, Sawant became an economics instructor in Seattle after immigrating to the United States from her native India. She ran unsuccessfully for the Washington House of Representatives in 2012 before winning her seat on the Seattle City Council in 2013. She was the first socialist to win a citywide election in Seattle since Anna Louise Strong was elected to the school board in 1916. Sawant narrowly survived a December 7, 2021 recall election for her position on the council by a margin of 310 votes, or 0.76%. It was the first held in Seattle since 1975. In January 2023, Sawant announced that she would not seek re-election, and would instead promote the Socialist Alternative campaign Workers Strike Back to unionize workers. In 2024, Sawant announced she had left Socialist Alternative and formed her own party Revolutionary Workers. She launched her candidacy for the 2026 United States House of Representatives election in Washington's 9th congressional district as an independent in June 2025, but failed to advance to the general election.